Winning run is halted

STRATFORD Squash Club men’s team’s winning start to the season came to an end with a narrow loss to Edgbaston Priory.

Having not played for eight months due to a spate of injuries and absenteeism, Alex Byrd played at fifth string for Stratford’s first team and a see-saw match went to a decider in which Byrd’s lack of match practice was evident as he failed to capitalise, narrowly losing out 11-9 in the fifth set.

Simon Kemp, Stratford’s third string, took to the court looking to level the tie. The opening games were shared between the players, however his opponent managed to get ahead in the match as he took the third game 11-5 and then marginally won the fourth set 14-12 to secure the point for Edgbaston.

With Stratford 2-0 down, it was up to their second string, Simon Johns, to start a resurgence. Playing at a high tempo which prevented his opponent from finding his rhythm, Johns swept aside his opponent 3-0 to get Stratford on the board.

At fourth string, the club’s top junior George Owen found himself in another tussle as his match went the full distance.

In the fifth game, both players were locked in some long and tiresome rallies but, unfortunately for Owen, his opponent managed to get his head in front and pushed through to win the deciding set 11-7.

With the fixture already lost, Stratford’s trusty number one Richard Rosenthal, although having been ill for much of the week, managed to use his experience and fitness to brush aside his opponent with ease 3-0.

Despite having lost their first match of the season, Stratford managed to secure some well earned points from this tie and currently sit second in Division Two with a game in hand on the leaders.

Anybody interested in joining Stratford Squash Club and who would like to hear about its junior and senior squash and racketball programmes can e-mail admin@stratfordsquashclub.co.uk or visit www.stratfordsquashclub.co.uk.

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